OUR lesson - Tips for Optimising Video and Sound Quality

The OUR infrastructure uses sophisticated software to give generally very good video quality for those reviewing, regardless of internet connectivity. However, there are a few things that you can do whilst recording to improve the quality of your videos without ramping up the file size.

Although we offer the option to record on a higher video quality, we expect that most users will prefer the medium quality mode since this is less likely to disadvantage viewers with poorer connections by creating bigger file sizes. Effectively, there is a compromise to be struck between acceptable quality and reasonable bandwidth. The following suggestions will help you to get the best from the Recorder in the lower quality mode:

1. Keep the camera still.

Use a fixed, solid base for the camera. A wobbly video looks unprofessional and will increase the size of the recording. Anything that doesn't move doesn't need to be continuously updated on screen. When the camera moves this affects the whole image and can have a very detrimental effect on quality.

2. Don't record the whole screen if you don't have to.

If you are recording an application on the computer there are good reasons to record just the application's window:
a) It's less distracting
b) The smaller the recorded area, the better the quality
c) Your recording will be less squashed when replayed on a small screen

3. Use a plain background.

Where possible, this is a good idea for both video and screen recording. Flat areas of a single colour compress much better than busy backgrounds and are less distracting for the viewer.

4. Use a fairly decent microphone.

Most integral PC or laptop microphones are generally very cheap and will record everything in the room with equal volume. They will also record keystrokes at very high volume. A simple lapel microphone will give much better results.

For the best results in a noisy office or classroom use a "pressure gradient microphone" which strongly accentuates sounds that are nearby. The headset microphones supplied with speech recognition software are of this type.